A Timely Exploration of Race & Class and the Price of Ambition, National Theatre of Parramatta presents the Australian Premiere of FADE

Riverside’s National Theatre of Parramatta (NTofP) is proud to present the Australian premiere of FADE, playing at Parramatta’s Riverside Theatres from Thursday 27th July to Saturday 5th August.

Inspired by playwright Tanya Saracho’s (TV’s Girls, Vida, How to Get Away with Murder) experiences working as a writer on an American network television show, FADE is a witty and insightful look into the dynamics of power, class and race in the workplace and the manipulation of status as a minority.

How far would you go for success?

Lucia, a Mexican-born novelist, gets her first TV writing job, feeling out of place in the male and white writing room, she quickly becomes friends with the only other Latino around, a janitor named Abel. As he shares his stories, similar plots begin to find their way into Lucia’s TV scripts.

FADE is an observation on making it as an outsider and how far you’ll go for success.

Playwright Tanya Saracho said, “There is an alchemy to seeing your otherness represented onstage -- it's a chemical reaction which the dominant culture doesn't ever experience -- the chemistry of "I exist." It's very powerful. In Fade I attempt to trap what we culturally export from Mexico inside an American Hollywood office -- our classism, our national pride, our marginalization within the dominant U.S. culture, sexism, our prejudice and bias. It's a universal immigrant experience, though, one which I think the National Theatre of Parramatta understands and supports with its programming -- the showcasing of marginalized perspectives like those expressed in Fade. It's wonderful that the theatre is letting this Mexican-American story "exist" on their stage, I hope it will provide some resonance and interesting insight for its Australian audience.”

Directed by Jeneffa Soldatic (The Incredible Here & Now), FADE is a sharply written dramatic comedy, featuring outstanding performances by Caspar Hardaker (TV’s Colin from Accounts) and Camila Ponte Alvarez (Dreamplanes Productions’ Labyrinth).

Director Jeneffa Soldatic said, “Having left Western Sydney in order to immerse myself in the world of film, television and theatre internationally, I am thrilled to return home to NTofP to direct a story about the world I went to find, and experience first-hand. With the incredible team of diverse cast and crew, I am excited for audiences in Parramatta to experience the premiere of this significant and explosive play.”